#reigning-sound

[golikehellmachine]

thanksgiving playlist extravaganza, pt. 1

i got busy last week with work and with life, and didn’t get around to putting together a friday playlist, which bothers no one other than myself, and doesn’t bother me that much, either.

but, since thanksgiving is coming up this week in the united states, and i’ll be spending a lot of time in the kitchen, i thought it might be fun to make a larger list to keep you company while you mash your potatoes or stuff your turkey or just stock up on wine and order takeout. 

this is part 1 — tumblr limits you to ten bandcamp links per post, which seems reasonable, so i’ve broken it up into three lists with the occasional youtube link when bandcamp fails me. next edition on tuesday, final edition on thursday. 

***

charlie megira | tower of tongues

CHARLIE MEGIRA has always seemed a little tragic to me; he was always a man out of step and out of time. he’s hard to pin down, genre-wise, because he jumped around a lot, which wouldn’t have been a problem today, but in the pre-streaming era, could make it tough for people to discover and stick with you. this particular song is from his post-punk era, and until listening to this record for the first time in months, i did not realize how much of modern post-punk (e.g., soft kill) you can hear in this. 

creature party | digital addiction

CREATURE PARTY are locals here in portland who we caught the other night, playing in the basement of the shanghai tunnel bar, which may (or, as it turns out, mostly like may not) have been the site of countless abductions, a gateway to a dangerous and unpleasant life of servitude at sea. in reality, most men who were sold into servitude were just drugged and then defrauded. 

i don’t have a good transition here, i just wanted to clear up a common misconception.

creature party were a delightful riot live. sound-wise, they’re very definitely a pacific northwest band, and you can hear the usual indie influences there (sleater-kinney is probably the easiest and laziest reference i can think of), but there’s plenty more to like here, because there’s just as much weirdo, lo-fi, fuzzy B-52s in this sound as there is pacific northwestern indie. 

laura jane grace | lolo 13

approximately 5,700 years ago, i lived next door to AGAINST ME! in a triplex across the street from gainesville punk greats BITCHIN’ and caddy corner from former floridian lumberjack and all-around man of bellows, CHUCK RAGAN. the late 90s were a pretty wild time to live in gainesville, florida. i would not have predicted LAURA JANE GRACE would’ve become who she’s become at that time, but i’m not sure i would’ve predicted anyone from that time would be doing anything they’re doing now — caroline from BITCHIN’ was in RUSSIAN DOLL! 

i haven’t really kept up with LJG in recent years because i’m just not huge into acoustic folk-punk anymore, but this record has a lot more depth than i thought it was going to, and i consider myself corrected and reminded to stop writing things off just because i think i know what they’ll sound like. 

surface to air missive | rosy

these folks (or, well, this folk) is new to me, but i really enjoy SURFACE TO AIR MISSIVE. there are plenty of influences you can hear here, and plenty of influence-influences you can hear, as well — not only can you hear some of THE SMITHS or even NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL here, you can hear the bands who influenced them. i don’t know much more about this band beyond knowing that it’s a one-man show, which is impressive. normally, one-person bands tend to fall apart when it comes to drums, but these are solid throughout. 

katie morey | trial by fire

i bought this record earlier this year, and keep coming back to it as a recommendation, even though i have a hard time pinning down exactly what i like about it. it’s got a specific sound which i nonetheless can’t quite put my finger on, but it definitely comes from the early 1970s. lots of heavy reverb, electric piano and quietly competent drumming. it’s a fantastic sunday morning record all the way through, which i can’t recommend enough, even while being unable to explain what, specifically it is that grabs me. 

kid congo powers | peanuts

KID CONGO POWERS is a legend who has played with so many underground greats and who it’s nice to see is finally beginning to get a little more recognition. he just released a book, which is on my christmas list, documenting his time through THE GUN CLUB, THE CRAMPS, NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS and more, and anyone who comes out alive on the other side of a history like that is definitely worth listening to. further, kid congo’s got a unique perspective as a gay man who was out and proud from very early on, even when the punk and underground scenes were nowhere near as tolerant as they’d eventually become. you can definitely hear his CRAMPS years in this track, but kid congo’s got his own thing going on that’s worth considering on it’s own.

sea power | be gone (demo)

SEA POWER (formerly british sea power) have picked up a lot of new fans in recent years because of their score for disco elysium, which is undeniably great, but, for me, open season is always going to be the record to beat. the original release is pretty unassailable, but, as is their way, sea power also tends to release their demo and early versions, and they’re always a delight to pick through. this version of be gone has the lovely melody of the original, but is quieter and doesn’t have the same bombastic, big sound that the initial release did. if you like listening to how songs can evolve for a band from when they’re written to when they’re recorded, this one’s a great example. 

lee fields | i should have let you be

LEE FIELDS IS BACK! LEE FIELDS IS BACK! 

of course, he didn’t go anywhere, but we’ve lost so many soul and R&B greats in recent years that it’s always a relief to see one continuing to put out great work. fields got back together with daptone records this year to release this, and the whole record is fantastic. this song has his signature sound with a really interesting, almost beatles-esque bridge right in the middle of it. the whole record’s fantastic and a well-welcomed return and i can’t recommend it enough. 

reigning sound | falling rain

i’ll never not be bummed out that cartwright called an end to the REIGNING SOUND before i got the chance to catch them live, though cartwright’s an industrious and restless guy who’ll have something new and exciting to check out soon enough. this one comes from shattered, which wasn’t my favorite record when it came out, but has really, really grown on me. i mean, i recommend literally every single one of their records, but if you’ve got to start somewhere, shattered isn’t a bad place to start. 

murder by death | my evergreen

given that it’s a thanksgiving playlist, a few christmas songs are bound to find their way in, and, well, would you look at that, here’s one of them! MURDER BY DEATH are one of my all-time favorites, and it’s entirely in character that they’d put together a christmas record. all of it is fun, but this cover of the SQUIRREL NUT ZIPPERS my evergreen manages to take what was, originally, a good-enough christmas effort and elevate to something profoundly nostalgic, bittersweet, and lovely. my partner and i have a hard rule about not playing this one until after thanksgiving, but i feel like we’re close enough that you should get to start working it into your holiday playlists now. 

that’s it for this list; i’ll have another one up on tuesday to continue the thurday cooking extravaganza. 

[chewingbatmanlikeasqueakytoy]

Why doesn't the justice league know about Amity Park?

Okay so it's been a bit sonce I watched the show but one of the things in DpxDC is the anti-ecto acts, which I love, but correct me if I'm wrong, I THINK ??? they only show up in reality trip? SO: What if Danny, when using the gauntlet to undo everything, also got rid of the Anti-Ecto acts? but this is babys first time editing reality so he uh Fucks Up A Lil'. As a result when Danny used the reality gauntlet to wipe the AEA from existence he accidentally wiped Amity Park from perception. A big 'nothing matters over here' jedi mind trick, and now no ones looking at Amity. So, the Justice League actually WERE looking into and monitoring the situation in Amity, but when the perception filter closed them off, all of that suddenly went ignored.

This is noticed when someone (Alfred, Dick, Tim, literally anyone) realises theres just. A BIG dusty pile of case files semi abandoned somewhere in the cave when going through a (time period)ly cave cleaning.

They put it down because it's Not Important.

They come back to finish the cleaning the next day and do the exact same thing, but there's nothing to actually distract them this time and it pings as weird. Because why would case files be not important? They are by definition important, because only things flagged as important go into case files.

They try to get someone else to read it, because as long as they don't read the information in the file, they don't put it down.

That person goes to read it, gets a line in and then says something like 'that isn't important' and goes to leave. Person A pushes it and person B ALSO catches on.

Que the Batfam trying to figure out hey, what the fuck actually?

Meanwhile, how is Amity fairing? Canon compliant everything's going alright? Or have knock on effects to No One Look Here started to show?

[felassan]

before the Gameplay Reveal of Dragon Age: The Veilguard went live the other day, the stream had a countdown on a purple background. there was cool music playing in the background of this. there is a rewatch link for the gameplay video, but it doesn't include the song. Ghil Dirthalen recorded it though, so if you would like to re-listen to it, you can do so here at [this link]. there is also a link in the description of the video to a download of the audio file there.

maybe this is the music that plays over the 'Start Menu'? :)

[chumbyy]

your art is so SKRONKLY!!!! it tastes like sour gummy worms and monster energy (my 2 fave consumable items)

thanks! :D

[stellarollins]

this was so random that it was great

[canisalbus]

Do you think Machete would like Hozier?

I think they both would.

But between you and me, lately I've been thinking that maybe Vasco's voice would sound somewhat like Hozier's. Perhaps a bit more upbeat, like how you can sometimes hear when a person is smiling by the way they speak, but he has the same kind of depth and warmth and clarity that I can imagine Vasco having.

[robindaydream]

I just finished watching Scavengers Reign last night and what a fucking show. The most alien alien world I've ever seen in anything, but with a clear internal logic where everything fits together and feels like a real ecosystem. It's wonderful and beautiful and also contains every kind of body horror you can imagine and especially every kind of body horror you can't imagine.

It feels kind of funny to say this, but if I had to compare it to something, it actually feels very much to me like a grown-up version of Hilda.

Hilda is a show about a fantastical version of nature. People have a lot of superstitions about the various creatures and forces that Hilda encounters. Many of them are seen as pests to be scared off or dangerous monsters to be killed. But, whenever Hilda interacts with them, we come to realize that every creature in that show is either 1) just a different kind of people, or 2) just weird magical animals. That crucially doesn't mean none of them can be dangerous or that you don't need to be careful, but just that everything can be understood if you take the time, and most of it you can even make friends with!

Of course that's a pretty optimistic, kid's show friendly view of things. It's a very sweet show and a big part of the appeal is seeing Hilda befriend all kinds of strange things.

Scavengers Reign is a show full of horrors. It's an alien world with an alien ecosystem that humans just don't fit into. The show doesn't shy away from the fact that these creatures prey on each other. They parasitize each other (they especially do this). They live and die and new life grows in the remains. It at times feels like a nature documentary of an alien world, showing the beautiful and disturbing reality of the lives that these creatures live.

But despite all the scary and gross and dangerous things, they're still just creatures. Animals and plants and fungi and other much harder to classify things. And like anything else they can be understood, and you can learn how to avoid them or placate them or how to cure the wounds they inflict if that happens. And you can find uses for some of them too, ways you can adapt to this ecosystem and survive in it. It's a show about symbiosis in all the gory detail that entails. About adapting and growing and becoming something new. It doesn't shy away from the danger and horror of that but it doesn't shy away from the beauty and love of it, either. And despite everything I feel like the show is full of a sense of wonder and fondness for the setting.

But ANYWAY the point is that it's a really good show with a really unique setting and a unique perspective. It completely blew me away.

[makorragal-312]

I wish you guys could understand how much it sucks that this season really does seem to give the POSSIBILITY of something ACTUALLY shifting in terms of Buddie, but Kr*sten did so much damage and had me so pissed and scarred from the Season 6 finale that I spent this whole goddamn hiatus conditioning myself to stop getting my hopes up.

[matchtheminrenown]

historical costumes + gold

[bloodycowboyclub]

[endykelopaedia]

scavenger's reign is the EXACT kind of show that would have benefited from a weekly release schedule (and not being owned by HBO max) like ugh i have been giving myself time to ruminate between episodes and i can see it!!! the fan theories!!! the gif sets!!! the gorgeous artwork!!! the gay shipping!!! we were so robbed of being able to collectively speculate and crack jokes and freak out and build excitement over each piece of the puzzle coming together!! everyone who sees scavenger's reign can recognise this show as a masterpiece & will tell you as much but there's very little sense of how people feel during it. only the after... and i think that's a shame.

that being said i am on the second last episode and i am losing my GODDAMN MIND. and i'm gonna make some art that i will never post and sleep on it. this show better get a season two!!!

[wammbam]

knowing that a lot of shield matches were like 80% improvised in-ring is Great, we should all clap for everyone involved

[thesamoanqueen]

I really hope Roman & Paul stay together for the rest of Reigns' career. I don't wanna ever see them split up 😭

[preciouspatriots]

immediately recognized this juxtaposition and haven’t known peace since

[shizunitis]

Why do you talk like what a Gen Z believes a victorian poet to sound like? /j

don’t harrass the bereft jester and thought peddler, measks. mebegs, even. he cries easily and there is no shizun to comfort him.

[guessimdumb]

Mary Weiss - Stop and Think It Over (2007)

R.I.P. Mary Weiss

In 2007, Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las recorded her first LP in decades with the Reigning Sound.